Conventional aircraft generally have systems for evacuating air-borne particulates, such as smoke, resulting from emergencies such as onboard fires. Typical systems include oxygen masks and smoke goggles for the pilots, so that the pilot or pilots can continue to breathe and so that the smoke is prevented from irritating the eyes, respectively.
There are likewise known smoke evacuation systems that function to remove smoke from the cockpit area. In the presence of very dense smoke, such conventional systems are unable to adequately remove sufficient amounts of air-borne particulates so that the pilot can see clearly.
Accordingly, a need has been shown for even better and more failure-proof systems.
U.S. Pat. No.4,832,287 to Werjefelt includes a transparent inflatable visual assurance unit which can be automatically or manually deployed and inflated. A source of clear inflating gas inflates the inflatable visual assurance unit. A hood, which is likewise connected to a source of clear inflating gas, is provided for the pilot. Although this earlier system works well, I have improved upon it by my present invention described below.